


Pacem regis

by wefewwehappyfew



Category: 16th Century CE RPF
Genre: Also bringing some more appreciation for Philip II of Spain, Bringing underappreciated ships to the forefront, Elisabeth appears here mostly as a mention, F/M, because I want to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 04:03:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16846744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wefewwehappyfew/pseuds/wefewwehappyfew
Summary: Philip never thought that his new wife would bring him such peace





	Pacem regis

He looks at her from the door.

Ana is embroidering something with her ladies and Felipe definitely doesn’t want to interrupt his wife. He hasn’t even moved the door a bit.

Because he doesn’t want to interrupt that picture of tranquility.

For someone who had craved quietness so much, his life had been everything but quiet. That probably came with being the sovereign of an Empire in which the Sun would never set. An Empire that was surrounded by enemies.

But then again, _Dios aprieta, pero no ahoga_. And the Lord had probably heard his prayers for a bit of peace when He, in His infinite wisdom, guided his acts to marry Ana.

He had considered not marrying again after Isabel (his heart still hurt at her memory and what could have been), but without a male heir, everybody insisted that the Empire would crumble.

And so he chose Ana, who was now carrying the hopes of the Empire in her womb. But who had also given him so much already.

The peace that he had craved so much.

Before anyone inside could notice they were being observed, Felipe left in direction to his study.

Later in the day, he could hear the whisperings of the courtiers.

“The King seems content today. I wonder what news he received.”

Little did they know of the reason of his joy masked as contentedness.

And it would stay this way.

**Author's Note:**

> \- This was originally a prompt by ranchelblah at tumblr.  
> \- Ok so I'm very very interested in Philip II, his relationship with his wives (specially Elisabeth of Valois and Anne of Austria) and his reign and I wanted to bring a more nuanced view on him than what is generally seen.  
> \- One of the things that, you could say, attracted me the most of Philip is how genuinely private he seemed to be for everything, specially for his very own thoughts. The etiquette of the Spanish Habsburg Court (which was strict af, and I'm being soft with that description) helped, and he was such a stickler for it that the only times he actually broke it in public (Mainly to cry over the deaths of Elisabeth, their daughter Catherine Michelle, and Anne), are actually documented as something very very shocking.  
> \- "Dios aprieta pero no ahoga", aka "God presses but does not choke" is a Spanish saying which kind of means that no matter how difficult things are being, you will always find a way out or a solution for your troubles.


End file.
